Carrots

“ The carrot is naturally a biennial plant, though it is often produced in a single season, and especial efforts are made to produce quick-growing carrots. This vegetable is much more common in Europe than in the United States, and when grown here at all it is used chiefly in soups and often for cattle food. ”

“ Carrots are plentiful all over Northern India. They come on in the spring, and are an excellent green food. They can be bought very cheaply, and if kept in a cool, dry place, can be stored for a considerable time; but they require to be turned almost daily, or they will get rotten. When used they should either be washed to remove the earth, or, as in the East this is quite dry, knocked with a stick to remove it. ”

“ By a little management it will be an easy matter during showery weather to draw delicate young Carrots for the final thinning, and these will admirably succeed the latest of the sowings in frames and warm borders. ”

“ Utility of Carrots as Food for Horses and other stall Beasts.—Carrots are excellent food for horses, either given alone, or along with hay, likewise for fattening stall beasts. They make them eat straw, and very indifferent hay, greedily. If the same be given to cows, the milk will have a much less offensive taste and smell than when they are fed on turnips. ”

“ Carrots, Boiled.—When carrots are boiled and served as a course by themselves, they ought to be young. This dish is constantly met with abroad in early summer, but is rarely seen in England, except at the tables of vegetarians. The carrots should be trimmed, thoroughly washed, and, if necessary, slightly scraped, and the point at the end, which looks like a piece of string, should be cut off. They should be thrown into fast boiling water (salted) in order to preserve their colour. When tender they can be served with some kind of good white sauce, or sauce Allemande or Dutch sauce. ”

“ The slices of carrot should be peppered and salted before being dipped in the egg.
Carrots, Mashed.—When carrots are very old they are best mashed. Boil them for some time, then cut them up and rub them through a wire sieve. They can be pressed in a basin and made hot by being steamed. A little butter, pepper and salt should be added to the mixture. A very pretty dish can be made by means of mixing mashed carrots with mashed turnips. They can be shaped in a basin, and with a little ingenuity can be put into red and white stripes. ”

“ These two vegetables are very useful, as they are obtainable all the year round. Carrots are particularly pretty when small. Large ones sliced and then stamped into fancy shapes, combined with turnips treated in the same way, are frequently used for making designs. Sometimes they are cut into balls, sometimes are carved into forms simulating roses. It is easy to make them into cups, using a fluted knife to shape the outside, and hollowing the center with a potato-scoop. ”

“ TO STEW CARROTS.— Half-boil the carrots; then scrape them nicely, and cut them into thick slices. Put them into a stew-pan with as much milk as will barely cover them; a very little salt and pepper; and a sprig or two of chopped parsley. Simmer them till they are perfectly tender. When nearly done, add a piece of fresh butter rolled in flour. Send them to table hot. Carrots require long cooking; longer than any other vegetable.
Parsnips and salsify may be stewed in the above manner, substituting a little chopped celery for the parsley. ”

“ Carrots.—To grow them to perfection carrots require a deep, rich, sandy soil, which has been thoroughly trenched and manured the previous autumn. For the main crop the seed should be sown in March, either broadcast or in rows 18 in. apart. A calm day must be chosen for sowing, as the seed is very light and liable to be blown about. It has also a tendency to hang together, to obviate which it is generally rubbed into some light soil or sand previously to being scattered. ”

“ The various uses of the carrot in cookery are well known. But, although it contains much nutriment, this root is difficult of digestion; particularly if eaten raw, or imperfectly boiled. Carrots are an excellent fodder for cattle and horses, either alone or mixed with hay; and, if given to cows, in winter or the early part of spring, they are said to cause a great increase of milk. If carrots be boiled with their wash, hogs will thrive well upon them. In some parts of England this vegetable has been cultivated as a winter food for deer ”

“ The Carrot.
The Parrot and the Carrot we may easily confound,
They're very much alike in looks and similar in sound,
We recognize the Parrot by his clear articulation,
For Carrots are unable to engage in conversation. ”

“ CARROTS are one of the root vegetables. They are similar in composition to beets, having practically the same total food value, which is for the most part carbohydrate in the form of sugar. Besides being valuable in the diet for their mineral salts and bulk, they add variety to the menu, especially in the winter, for upon maturing they can be kept for a long time if they are properly stored. As tiny young carrots, they are also much used as a summer vegetable, and when cooked whole and served in an attractive way they make a delicious vegetable dish. ”

“ One of the cleverest and most pleasing stories it has been our good fortune to meet with for some time. Carrots and his sister are delightful little beings, whom to read about is at once to become very fond of. ”

“ Prepared in this way, the heart of a cardoon constitutes an excellent garnish for Tournedos and sautéd chickens.
Carrots (Carottes)
2059—CAROTTES GLACÉES POUR GARNITURES
New carrots are not parboiled; they are turned, whole, halved, or quartered, according to their size, and then trimmed. If old, they should be turned to the shape of elongated olives, and parboiled before being set to cook.
Put the carrots in a saucepan with enough water to cover them well, one-half oz. of salt, one oz. of sugar, and two oz. of butter per pint of water. ”

“ About six weeks after sowing, that is, the middle of July, thin the plants, leaving them four or five inches apart in the row. The carrots are dug and stored like most root crops. If grown in large quantities, most of the labor of getting the roots out of the soil is performed by horses. Carrots keep well in long piles, six feet wide at the bottom, and of any length. Ventilating holes need to be left at frequent intervals along the ridge of the covered heap. There are several varieties of carrots, some of them being earlier than others, while the size and general shape varies greatly. ”

“ The carrot is used in winter and spring in the dairy, to give colour and flavour to butter, and is excellent in stews, haricots, soups, or, when boiled, with salt beef. Owing to the large proportion of saccharine in its composition, the carrot yields a greater proportion of spirit than the potato, 10 lb. weight producing 1⁄2 a pint of strong spirit.
1473.—CARROTS WITH PARSLEY SAUCE. (Fr.—Carottes à la Poulette.)
Ingredients.—1 bunch of young carrots, 2 ozs. of butter, 1 gill of milk, 1⁄2 a gill of cream, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley, salt and pepper. ”

“ Carrot seed should be sown in rows a foot or fifteen inches apart and one-half inch deep. The early varieties should be thinned to stand about two inches apart, while the main crop needs about four inches between each plant. Some people defer the thinning of their carrots until they are of sufficient size for the table. “Baby” carrots are one of the most delicious of vegetables when they are properly cooked, far preferable to the roots that have been allowed to mature. ”

“ Carrots are altogether the best substitute for [235] fresh grass. They can be given without harm, occasionally, the year round, either alone or mixed with other food—always cut up lengthwise, otherwise the horse may choke on them. ”

“ Carrots, are managed as it respects plowing and rich ground, similarly to Parsnips. The yellow are better than the orange or red; middling fiz'd, that is, a foot long and two inches thick at the top end, are better than over grown ones; they are cultivated best with onions, sowed very thin, and mixed with other seeds, while young or six weeks after sown, especially if with onions on true onion ground. They are good with veal cookery, rich in soups, excellent with hash, in May and June. ”

“ Carrots are vsually sowen in March and Aprill, and if it chance that some of them doe runne vp for seede the same year, they are to be weeded out, for neyther the seed nor roots of them are good: You must likewise pull them vp when they are too thicke, if you will haue them grow fair, or for seed, that they may grow at the least three or foure foot in sunder: the stalkes of Carrots are limber, and fall downe to the ground ”

“ Carrots will continue to grow and increase in size late into the fall. When ready to dig, plough around as near to the outside rows as possible, turning the furrow away from the row. Then take out the carrots, pulling off the tops, and throw the carrots and tops into separate heaps on the ploughed furrows. In this way a man and two boys can harvest and put into the cellar over a hundred bushels a day. ”

“ Cut young carrots in small pieces, blanch them in salted water; melt some butter in a stew pan, add enough water and meat extract to make sufficient to cover the carrots, season with pepper, salt and a pinch of sugar and toss the carrots in this till they are tender. Then add the yolk of an egg and a tablespoonful of cream, holding the pan just off the fire with the left hand, while you stir with the right. When it is well mixed pour all out on a vegetable dish and sprinkle over with chopped parsley. ”

“ Carrots vary considerably in the length, shape and colour of their roots, and in the proportion of rind to core. The White Belgian, which gives the largest crops, has a very thick root which is white, becoming pale green above, where it projects above ground. For nutritive purposes it is inferior to the red varieties. The carrot delights in a deep sandy soil, which should be well drained and deeply trenched. The ground should be prepared and manured in autumn or winter. For the long-rooted sorts the soil should be at least 3 ft. ”

“ Take two or three large carrots, and half boil them; grate the crumb of a penny loaf and the red part of the carrots; boil as much cream as will make the bread of a proper thickness; [312] when cold, add the carrots, the yolks of four eggs, beat well, a little nutmeg, a glass of white wine, and sugar to your taste. Butter the dish well, and lay a little paste round the edge. Half an hour will bake it. ”

“ Ten pounds' weight of carrots will yield about half a pint of very strong, ardent spirit: and the carrots (twenty tons in weight) produced by an acre of ground, have been known to produce 240 gallons of spirit. A syrup made of these roots, and clarified with the white of eggs, has been found useful for many purposes. An infusion of the seeds and the expressed juice of the roots, are said to afford relief in fits of the gravel. A marmalade of carrots has been used with success in sea-scurvy, and a poultice prepared from them is sometimes employed in cancerous ulcers. ”

“ Carrots are most savory boiled with corned beef for two hours. They may also be boiled plain, cut in slices, and served with drawn butter. For old carrots not less than two hours will be necessary. Plenty of water must be used, and when cold the carrots are to be cut in dice. Melt in a saucepan a spoonful of butter; add half a teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of pepper, and a teaspoonful of sugar, and when the butter boils put in the carrots, and stir till heated through. ”

“ It is remnant-day in the garden, the time to take a basket and go bargain-hunting on the "as is" counter. Where the carrots have been gathered there are always a few to be found, if one looks carefully, and in the melon-patch there is sure to be one or two that still hold the bouquet of summer, with something added that has come with the first spicy mornings of fall. ”

“ So that besides the noxious plants there is a long range of useful vegetables, as parsnips, parsley, carrots, fennel, dill, anise, caraway, cummin, coriander, and celery. The last, in its wild state, is said to be pernicious, but etiolation changes the products and renders them harmless. The flowers of all are too minute to be individually pretty, but every one knows how charming are the umbels of our wild carrot, resembling as they do the choicest old lace. ”

“ Carrots are propagated from seeds, which maybe sown at different times, during the whole season; in order to procure a succession of young roots for the table. They require an open situation, at a little distance from a wall ”

“ The beet, though also largely water, has also a good deal of sugar, and is excellent food. Carrots and parsnips are much alike in composition. Carrots are generally rejected as food, but properly cooked are very appetizing, their greatest use, however, being in soups and stews.
HERBACEOUS ARTICLES follow; and, though we are not accustomed to consider Cabbage as an herb, it began existence as cole-wort, a shrub or herb on the south coast of England. Cultivation has developed it into a firm round head; and as a vegetable, abounding as it does in nitrogen, it ranks next to beans as a food. ”

“ Dall doubts that "carrots" were of Bering's provisions. Brooke omits the italicized words of du Halde's narrative (p. 567, la Haye, 1736) : "Les provisions consistoient en carottes et en racines." As indicated by context, the roots were radishes and turnips. The word "carottes" is explained by a passage in Grieve's Kamshatka as follows: "The morkovai poushki, or carrot bunches, are so called because they are like carrots in their leaf as well as in taste. They likewise eat this green in the spring, but they oftener sour it like sour crout or make a liquor with it." ”